WO2020235469A1

WO2020235469A1 - Tablet cassette

Info

Publication number: WO2020235469A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/019407
Authority: WO
Inventors: 克憲吉名; 克朗吉川
Original assignee: 株式会社湯山製作所
Priority date: 2019-05-18
Filing date: 2020-05-15
Publication date: 2020-11-26
Also published as: JPWO2020235469A1; JP2024029045A; EP3973940A1; JP7410423B2; EP3973940A4

Abstract

Provided is a tablet cassette capable of discharging a large tablet without changing the size of a base body to which the tablet cassette is attached.　The tablet cassette (1) comprises: a tablet container (3) housing a plurality of tablets and having a tablet outlet (17) formed in the bottom thereof; and a rotor (4) rotatably provided inside the tablet container (3) and having a tablet guide groove (12) provided therein that guides a tablet inside the tablet container (3) to the tablet outlet (17). The rotor (4) has a circumferential groove (14) formed in the circumferential direction thereof. A guide member (21) that enters the circumferential groove (14) is provided on the downstream side, in the rotation direction of the rotor (4), of the tablet outlet (17) in the tablet container (3). The guide member (21) has an inclined guide surface (21c) that faces the tablets in the tablet guide groove (12), in the rotation direction of the rotor (4), and facing the tablet outlet.

Description

Tablet cassette

The present invention relates to a tablet cassette that accommodates a large number of tablets and ejects a desired number of tablets one by one.

The tablet cassette is detachably attached to the base body (motor base) provided in the tablet dispensing device. The tablet dispenser has a large number of tablet cassettes so that a wide variety of tablets can be ejected. Each tablet cassette includes a tablet container that accommodates a large number of tablets and a rotor that is rotatably provided inside the tablet container. The tablets in the tablet container are discharged from the tablet outlet through the tablet guide groove formed in the rotor. The tablet discharged from the tablet outlet is discharged through the tablet discharge path of the base body.

Tablets have various shapes. If the size of the tablet cassette and the base body is determined according to the large tablet, the tablet dispensing device becomes large. For this reason, the tablet cassette and the base body are sized so that tablets of intermediate size can be dispensed. In each tablet cassette, the width and depth of the tablet guide groove of the rotor are formed according to the size of the tablet contained in the tablet container. On the other hand, the tablet discharge path of the base body is formed to have a constant size regardless of the tablet size of the tablet cassette. Therefore, when the width of the tablet guide groove of the rotor is increased so that a large tablet can be discharged, the tablet T discharged from the tablet cassette may be clogged in the tablet discharge path 24 of the base body 2 as shown in FIG. there were.

Patent Document 1 describes a guide portion for guiding a tablet to a selection slot (tablet guide groove) of a circular receiver (rotor), and a drug dispenser provided with a sweeper in the vicinity of the selection slot. Sweeper separates one tablet from the selection slot so that it is dispensed.

Patent Document 2 describes a tablet dispenser in which a dividing groove and a supply groove are provided in a rotor transport path (tablet guide groove).

In any of the patent document drug dispensers, the tablet discharge path of the base body must be enlarged in order to dispense large tablets.

U.S. Pat. No. 9550619 Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0036922

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tablet cassette capable of ejecting a large tablet without changing the size of a base body on which the tablet cassette is mounted. To do.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
A tablet container that holds a large number of tablets and has a tablet outlet formed at the bottom,
In a tablet cassette provided with a rotor rotatably provided in the tablet container and provided with a tablet guide groove for guiding the tablet in the tablet container to the tablet outlet.
A circumferential groove is formed in the rotor,
A guide member that enters the peripheral groove is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor at the tablet outlet of the tablet container.
The guide member is configured to have an inclined guide surface facing the tablet in the tablet guide groove in the rotational direction of the rotor and facing the tablet outlet.

In the present invention, the tablet in the tablet guide groove is discharged from the tablet outlet by changing the direction by the inclined guide surface of the guide member, so that the tablet is discharged without clogging the tablet discharge path of the base body on which the tablet cassette is mounted. Therefore, a large tablet can be discharged without changing the size of the base body.

The guide surface of the guide member is configured to turn the tablet in the tablet guide groove around an axis parallel to the tablet guide groove and discharge the tablet from the tablet outlet.

The guide surface of the guide member is configured to look at the rotor from the tablet outlet and turn the tablet from a first profile having a large projected area to a second profile having a projected area smaller than that of the first profile. There is.

The guide member is provided below the center of the first profile of the tablet when the rotor is viewed from the tablet outlet.

The guide surface of the guide member is inclined downstream in the rotational direction of the rotor toward the edge of the guide surface located radially outside from the edge of the guide surface located inside the rotor in the radial direction. ..

The edge of the guide surface located inside the rotor in the radial direction is located between the center of the tablet outlet and the upstream edge of the rotor in the rotational direction when the rotor is viewed from the tablet outlet. To do.

According to the present invention, a guide member that enters the peripheral groove of the rotor is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor at the tablet outlet, and the guide member faces the tablet in the tablet guide groove in the rotation direction of the rotor and It has an inclined guide surface facing the tablet outlet, and the tablet in the tablet guide groove changes its direction by the guide surface of the guide member and is discharged from the tablet outlet, so that the tablet discharge path of the base body to which the tablet cassette is mounted is clogged. It is discharged without. Therefore, a large tablet can be discharged without changing the size of the base body.

The perspective view of the tablet cassette and the base body which concerns on this invention. An exploded perspective view of the tablet cassette as seen from diagonally below the rear opening of the tablet cassette. A perspective view of the tablet cassette of FIG. 1 as viewed from diagonally above. A perspective view of the tablet cassette of FIG. 1 as viewed from diagonally lower rear. A partial plan view (a) showing the position and shape of the guide surface of the guide member and a partial plan view (b) showing a modified example of the guide surface. The figure which shows the 1st profile (a) and 2nd profile (b) of a tablet. A front view showing a situation in which a large tablet can be turned by a guide member. The plan view which shows the situation where a large tablet can be turned by a guide member. A perspective view (a) of the base body of the tablet cassette of the present invention and a sectional view taken along the line AA thereof (b) showing a situation in which a large tablet is discharged from the tablet discharge path of the base body. The perspective view which shows the modification of the rotor of a tablet cassette. The plan view which shows the modification of the guide member. A cross-sectional view (a) of a tablet cassette having a one-stage rotor and a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB (b). A perspective view (a) of a base body of a conventional tablet cassette and a sectional view taken along line CC (b) thereof showing a situation in which a large tablet is discharged from a tablet discharge path of the base body.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a tablet cassette 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a base body 2 to which the tablet cassette 1 is mounted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tablet cassette 1 includes a tablet container 3 and a rotor 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the tablet container 3 has a substantially rectangular tablet accommodating portion 5 for accommodating a large number of tablets, and a circular rotor accommodating portion 6 capable of accommodating a rotor 4 at the lower portion. The upper opening 7 of the tablet storage portion 5 can be opened and closed with a lid (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1, a mounting base 8 that slides and engages with a mounting guide 23 described later of the base body 2 is mounted on the lower outer surface of the tablet container 3.

The rotor 4 is rotatably housed in the rotor accommodating portion 6 of the tablet container 3. A rotating shaft 9 is provided on the bottom surface of the rotor 4, and the rotating shaft 9 penetrates the shaft hole 10 on the bottom of the tablet container 3 and is attached with the drive gear 11 shown in FIG. The drive gear 11 is adapted to mesh with the motor gear 22 described later of the base body 2 when the tablet cassette 1 is attached to the base body 2. On the outer surface of the rotor 4, a plurality of tablet guide grooves 12 parallel to the rotation axis 9 of the rotor 4 (six in the circumferential direction in the embodiment) and a peripheral groove for partitioning into which the partition portion 20a of the partition member 20 described later enters. A guide peripheral groove 14 into which the protruding portion 21b of the guide member 21, which will be described later, enters is formed below the partition peripheral groove 13.

As shown in FIG. 2, a rear opening 15 is provided from the lower rear portion of the tablet accommodating portion 5 of the tablet cassette 1 to the bottom portion of the rotor accommodating portion 6, and the rear opening 15 is removably closed by the opening cover 16. ing. A tablet outlet 17 is formed on the opening cover 16. A slit 18 is formed above the tablet outlet 17. A notch 19 is formed in the side edge of the tablet outlet 17 located on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor 4.

A partition member 20 is attached to the opening cover 16, and the partition portion 20a of the partition member 20 enters the partition peripheral groove 13 of the rotor 4 inside through the slit 18. A guide member 21 is attached to the notch 19 of the opening cover 16, and a protrusion 21b, which will be described later, of the guide member 21 enters the guide peripheral groove 14 of the rotor 4 inside.

The guide member 21 includes a base portion 21a attached to the notch 19 of the opening cover 16, a protruding portion 21b protruding from the base portion 21a toward the rotor 4 and entering the guide peripheral groove 14 of the rotor 4, and the protruding portion 21a. It has a guide surface 21c formed on the side edge located on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor 4.

The guide surface 21c faces the tablet in the tablet guide groove 12 that moves by the rotation of the rotor 4 and faces the tablet outlet 17. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the guide surface 21c is a rotor from the edge e1 of the guide surface 21c located on the inner side in the radial direction of the rotor 4 toward the edge e2 of the guide surface 21c located on the outer side in the radial direction. It is formed by a concave surface inclined to the downstream side in the rotation direction of No. 4. Further, the edge e1 of the guide surface 21c located inside the rotor 4 in the radial direction is located slightly upstream of the center of the tablet outlet 17 in the rotation direction when the rotor 4 is viewed from the tablet outlet 17.

Note that the guide surface 21c may be composed of a plurality of inclined surfaces as shown in FIG. 5B instead of a concave surface. In this case, the inclination of the guide surface 21c is changed stepwise, and the inclination on the downstream side from the transition point e3 to the edge e2 is viewed from the rotation direction of the rotor 4 rather than the inclination on the upstream side from the edge e1 to the transition point e3. A steep slope is desirable. In FIG. 5B, the guide surface 21 is composed of two inclined surfaces, but may be three or more. Further, the edge e1 of the guide surface 21c is located between the center 17a of the tablet outlet 17 and the edge 17b on the upstream side of the rotor 4 in the rotation direction of the tablet outlet 17 when the rotor 4 is viewed from the tablet outlet 17. Is preferable.

As shown in FIG. 1, the base body 2 is one of a large number of base bodies 2 fixedly provided to the tablet dispensing device. The base body 2 has a built-in motor (not shown) that rotationally drives the rotor 4 of the tablet cassette 1, and the motor gear 22 is exposed on the upper surface. Further, the base body 2 is formed with a mounting guide 23 for mounting the tablet cassette 1 and a tablet discharge path 24 through which the tablets discharged from the tablet cassette 1 pass.

The tablet cassette 1 accommodates relatively large and flat tablets (for example, an outer diameter of 18 mm). That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the tablets contained in the tablet cassette 1 include a first profile (a) having a large projected area and a second profile (b) having a smaller projected area than the first profile (a). Has. For this reason, the tablet guide groove 12 of the rotor 4 is also formed to have a wide width. On the other hand, the tablet discharge path 24 of the base body 2 does not need to be formed wide to fit the large and flat tablet, and has a size common to all of the many base bodies 2 of the tablet dispensing device. It is formed in a size that allows the size of a tablet in the middle of the payable tablets to pass through. The guide member 21 is provided below the center of the first profile of the tablet when the rotor 4 is viewed from the tablet outlet 17.

Next, the operation of the tablet cassette according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the tablet T contained in the tablet container 3 enters the tablet guide groove 12 of the rotor 4 by the rotation of the rotor 4. At this time, the tablet T is housed in the tablet guide groove 12 with the first profile when the outer circumference is viewed from the outside of the rotor 4. When the tablet guide groove 12 approaches the tablet outlet 17, the lowermost tablet T of the tablet guide groove 12 and the tablet T'above the tablet T'are partitioned by the partition member 20. The tablet T'above the partition member 20 is supported by the partition member 20. The tablet T below the partition member 20 comes into contact with the guide surface 21c of the guide member 21, and as the rotor 4 rotates, the guide surface 21c of the guide member 21 causes 90 ° around the axis x parallel to the tablet guide groove 12. It rotates and turns from the first profile (a) to the second profile (b) when looking at the rotor 4 from the tablet outlet 17, and is discharged from the tablet outlet 17 while falling due to gravity.

As shown in FIG. 9, the tablet T discharged from the tablet outlet 17 is discharged so as to roll on the road surface of the tablet discharge path 24 of the base body 2 in a vertical posture. Therefore, as compared with the case where the tablet T slides down on the road surface of the tablet discharge path 24 in a lateral posture as in the conventional case of FIG. 13, the tablet T passes and is clogged with a margin for the width of the tablet discharge path 24. Is discharged without. Therefore, the tablet discharge path 24 of the base body 2 can be enlarged, and the large tablet T can be discharged without changing the overall width. Further, since the tablet T rolls down the tablet discharge path 24, the discharge time of the tablet T can be shortened.

FIG. 10 shows a guide peripheral groove 14 of the rotor 4 provided at the lower end of the rotor 4 so that the guide surface 21c of the guide member 21 comes into contact with the tablet T of the tablet guide groove 12 below the center of the first profile. Is. In this case, when the tablet T comes into contact with the guide surface 21c, the lower portion of the tablet T is swept away and the axis x of rotation falls down with respect to the tablet guide groove 12, so that the tablet T comes into contact with the guide surface 21c. Even if the tablet T is slightly raised by the impact, it will not be caught on the upper edge of the tablet outlet 17. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the discharge time of the tablet T can be further shortened as compared with the case where the tablet T comes into contact with the center of the first profile.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified and modified without departing from the gist of the invention described in the claims.

For example, in the above embodiment, the guide member 21 is attached to the tablet outlet 17 of the tablet container 3 as a separate member, but is integrally formed on the side edge of the tablet outlet 17 of the tablet container 3 as shown in FIG. , The guide surface 21a may extend to the outside of the tablet container 3.

Further, in the rotor 4 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of tablets are housed in the tablet guide groove 12 of the rotor 4, and the lowermost tablet T of the tablet guide groove 12 and the tablet T above it are accommodated. 'Is a so-called two-stage rotor partitioned by the partition member 20, but the present invention is also applicable to a tablet cassette having a one-stage rotor.

In a tablet cassette having a one-stage rotor, as shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the rotor 4 is located between the lower large-diameter outer peripheral surface 4a and the upper small-diameter outer peripheral surface 4b. It has a step portion 4c. A plurality of tablet guide grooves 12 parallel to the rotation axis 9 of the rotor 4 are formed on the large-diameter outer peripheral surface 4a as in the above embodiment, and one tablet is housed in the tablet guide path 12. To. An annular tablet pocket 25 connected in the circumferential direction of the rotor 4 is provided above the tablet guide groove 12. The tablet pocket 25 is composed of a small diameter outer peripheral surface 4b of the rotor 4, a step portion 4c, and an inner surface of the rotor accommodating portion 6 of the tablet container 3. Since the partition member 20 is provided above the step portion 4c of the rotor 4 instead of the partition peripheral groove as in the above embodiment, the tablet pocket 25 shares the partition peripheral groove. One tablet is housed in the tablet guide groove 12 from the tablet pocket 25, and one tablet T in the tablet guide groove 12 and the tablet T'in the tablet pocket 25 above the tablet T'are partitioned by the partition member 20. It has become.

Even in this one-stage rotor, a guide peripheral groove 14 in the circumferential direction is formed on the large-diameter outer peripheral surface 4a of the rotor 4, and a guide that enters the guide peripheral groove 14 on the downstream side of the tablet outlet 17 in the rotational direction. A member 21 is provided, and the tablet T in the tablet guide groove 12 is turned around by the guide member 21 and discharged from the tablet outlet 17.

1 Tablet cassette 2 Base body 3 Tablet container 4 Rotor 12 Tablet guide groove 14 Guide peripheral groove 17 Tablet outlet 21 Guide member 21c Guide surface 25 Tablet pocket

Claims

A tablet container that holds a large number of tablets and has a tablet outlet formed at the bottom,
In a tablet cassette provided with a rotor rotatably provided in the tablet container and provided with a tablet guide groove for guiding the tablet in the tablet container to the tablet outlet.
A circumferential groove is formed in the rotor,
A guide member that enters the peripheral groove is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the rotor at the tablet outlet of the tablet container.
The tablet cassette is characterized in that the guide member has an inclined guide surface facing the tablet in the tablet guide groove in the rotation direction of the rotor and facing the tablet outlet.
The first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the guide surface of the guide member is configured to turn the tablet of the tablet guide groove around an axis parallel to the tablet guide groove and discharge the tablet from the tablet outlet. The tablet cassette described.
The guide surface of the guide member is configured to look at the rotor from the tablet outlet and turn the tablet from a first profile having a large projected area to a second profile having a projected area smaller than that of the first profile. The tablet cassette according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the tablet cassette is provided.
The tablet cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the guide member is provided below the center of the first profile of the tablet when the rotor is viewed from the tablet outlet.
The guide surface of the guide member is inclined to the downstream side in the rotational direction of the rotor toward the edge of the guide surface located radially outside from the edge of the guide surface located inside the rotor in the radial direction. The tablet cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that.
The edge of the guide surface located inside the rotor in the radial direction is located between the center of the tablet outlet and the upstream edge of the rotor in the rotational direction when the rotor is viewed from the tablet outlet. The tablet cassette according to claim 5, wherein the tablet cassette is made.